Donald Schmuck

Donald Myron Schmuck
Donald Myron Schmuck
	5th Marine Regiment
Battles/wars	World War II; Korean War Battle of Chosin Reservoir;
Awards	Navy Cross; Silver Star (2); Legion of Merit; Bronze Star (2); Purple Heart

Navy Cross and two Silver Stars

for his heroic actions.

Biography

Schmuck grew up in

University of Colorado and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy having enlisted in the Marine Corps

in 1935 and was later commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938 following graduation from university.

After basic training, he served as a platoon leader at San Diego Marine Corps Base, then served in the South Pacific with the 2nd Marine Brigade during

1st Marine Division in time for landings on Peleliu and, later, Okinawa, where he was again wounded in action. He was a lieutenant colonel

commanding an infantry battalion training for the invasion of Japan when the war ended.

Donald Schmuck attended the

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

, before returning to Quantico as an instructor in the Marine Corps Schools.

In 1949 he was ordered to the

Fleet Marine Force Pacific at Pearl Harbor after Korea. During that duty, Schmuck was charged with producing a number of contingency war plans covering national objectives in Asia, including several locations in Vietnam, and he conducted the in-country reconnaissance required for those plans. In 1959 he attended the Army War College

at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Schmuck retired from the Marine Corps in 1960 with the rank of

Desert Storm

in February 1991 in the Gulf War.

He was active with the Marine Corps League in Wyoming and Hawaii, and was a founding member of the Viet Nam Vets Motorcycle Club http://www.texasvnvmc.com Archived 2011-10-10 at the Wayback Machine . He purchased the Triangle-S ranch between Buffalo and Sheridan, Wyoming. He died, aged 88, in Honolulu and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

He never married and is survived by his brother, retired Cmdr. Carl Schmuck of Anacortes, Washington, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Awards

General Schmuck's decorations include:

Navy Cross	award star	valor device	Bronze Star w/ 1 award star & valor device	French Fourragère
Purple Heart w/ 2 award stars	Air Medal	Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ valor device	Navy Presidential Unit Citation w/ 5 service stars
Navy Unit Commendation	American Campaign Medal	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal	World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal	Korean Service Medal w/ 1 service star	Korean Presidential Unit Citation w/ 1 service star	United Nations Korea Medal

References

"Official Biography for Brigadier General Donald M. Schmuck". United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on December 15, 2005. Retrieved 2005-12-05.
Chapin, John C. (1997). Top of the Ladder: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons. United States Marine Corps.
ISBN 0-7881-7325-1. Retrieved 2005-12-05.. Also available from ibiblio.org
.

"Donald M. Schmuck, Brigadier General, United States Marine Corps". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 2005-12-05.

Col. George O. Taylor Jr., USA (retired) (July 2002). "The Forgotten War's Forgotten Task Force". Army Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-19. Includes information about Schmuck's role at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Biography

Awards

See also

References